Fence-end tool.



A. W. SPRAGUE & J. A..GOGK ER.

FENCE END TOOL.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 30, 1913.

1 0 5 474 Patented June 24,1913.

COLUMBIA PLANum-Lwu co \vAsumo-roN. n. c.

UNITED STAS I ARTHUR W. SPRAGUE, OF LA GRANGE, AND JOHN'A. COCKER, 0FJULIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO THE AMERICAN STEEL AND WIRE COMPANY OFNEW JERSEY, OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEWJERSEY.

FENCE-END TOOL.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentgd June 24, 1913 Applicationfiled January 30, 1913. Serial No. 745,273.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR \V. SIRAGUE and JOHN A. Coonnn, bothcitizens of the United States, andresiding at La Grange, in the countyof Cook, and at Joliet, in the county of Will, State of Illinois,respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFence-End Tools, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference in general to wire fence tools and itsprimary object is to provide a simple, durable and inexpensive tool bymeans of which the fence line wires may be secured to an end post insuch a manner that no slippage of the wires on the post or slackening ofthe wires will occur after they have been secured.

It is customary to attach line wires to the metal end posts, now ingeneral use, by first pulling the free ends of the wires around the postand then twisting them about the taut line wires which are disposedtangentially to the outer face of the post. After the wires have beensecured and the stretcher has been taken ofi so that all of the straincomes upon the end post, the wires have a tendency to slip around thepost until the pull is exerted along a line passing through the centerof the post. This slippage of the wires so that the pull is exertedradially instead of tangentially of the post decreases the tension ofthe wires and, consequently, produces objectionable slack in the fence.

Our present invention, therefore, has been designed to stretch the freeends of the wires tightly around the end post and then displace or bendthe taut line wires from the tangential to a radial position before theends are wrapped around them, thereby obviating the above noted slippageand consequent slackening of the fence after connection with the posthas been established.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the followingdescription when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingsthroughout the various views of which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts.

Referring to the-drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of afence showing the manner of stretching and securing the line wires tothe end post; Fig. 2 is a plan view of an end post showing the manner ofattaching the line wires thereto prior to our present invention; Fig. 3is an end view showing how the line wires are secured to the end post bythe use of our improved tool; Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the tool asgrasping a wire prior to the stretching operation; Fig. 5 is a similarview showingthe position of the wire just before the free end is twistedaround the taut line wire; Fig. 6 is an enlarged. plan view of ourimproved tool; Fig. 7 is an end view thereof, the jaws being shown inclosed position by full lines and in open position by dotted lines; andFig. 8 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 8 -8 of Fig.4.

On the drawings reference character 10 designates generally a woven wirefence comprising the line wires 11 and the stay wires 12 which, inthepresent instance, are shown as vertically arranged. This style offence, however, is shown merely for purposes of illustration, since ourinvention is not restricted in its ilse to any particular type of fenceand may be employed for stretching and securing a woven wire fence, barbwires, orany other preferred line wires. The fence in the presentinstance is supported intermediate its ends by the line posts 13 and issecured at the end of the line to an end post 14 braced in any suitablemanner as, for instance, by an inclined brace 15, as shown. Instretching fences of this general character it is customary to employ astretcher 16 of any preferred construction attached by a chain at oneend to a back post 18' braced by a suitable brace 19 from the end post14, and attached at its other end to a clamp 21 secured to the linewires of the fence. After the fence has been stretched to the requiredtension by this apparatus the ends of the line wires have been wrappedaround the end post 14 and the free ends thereof have been twistedaround the line wires substantially as shown in Fig. 2.

The metal end posts which are now customarily used afford no provisionfor preventing the wires from slipping around the post and after thestretcher has been removed from the fence the line wires 11 will slipfrom their original tangential posi tion as shown in Fig. 2 to aposition in line with the radius of the post as illustrated in Fig. 3.This slipping, of course, releases to some extent the tension on theline wires and results in objectionable slack in the fence.

Our present invention comprises a tool dc signed to bend or deflect theline wires from their tangential relation to the end post, as shown inFig. 4-, to substantially a radial position, as shown in Fig. 5, beforethe free ends of the wires are twisted around the line wires to effectthe connection with the post, so that after the connection is made thereis no tendency for the wires to slip and produce slack in the fence. Thepreferred embodiment of our invention comprises a handle 22 of suitablelength having an offset portion 23 at one end to which there ispivotally connected by abolt 24 a pair of clamping jaws 25. These jawsare pivotally connected intermediate their ends by a bolt 26 which issmaller than the holes in the jaws through which it passes so that saidjaws may fulcrum on the interengaging seats 2'? to open and close theirfree extremities. The ends of the jaws are curved as shown to conform tothe curvature of an end post and, in order that the wire may be firmlygrasped between the aws, one of them is preferably provided with agroove 28 and the other is provided with a bead 29 adapted to 006peratewith the groove to firmly clamp the wire between the jaws. For thepurpose of automatically closing the jaws upon a wire the handleadjacent the pivotal connection with the jaws is shaped to provide awedge 31 which, when the handle is swung about its pivot to the positionshown in Figs. t and 5, enters between the rear ends of the jaws andforces the clamping ends of the jaws tightly together. When the tool isto be employed, the handle is swung to the position shown in Fig. 6 sothat the jaws may open. The free end of a line wire is then insertedbetween the jaws and the jaws are moved up close to the post. The handleis then swung on its pivot to force the wedge 31 between the rear endsof the jaws to clamp the wire between the jaws and the tool is thenpushed or pulled from the position shown in Fig. 41 to that shown inFig. 5, drawing the free end of the wire tightly around the post. Thetool is prevented from slipping off the post during the stretchingoperation by reason of the curved formation of the jaws.

In order to draw the taut line Wire to- Ward the center line of the postwe have provided the tool with a rod 32 slidingly mounted on the handleand provided at one end with a hook 33 and threaded at its other end toreceive the knurled nut 34:. After the tool has been moved into theposition shown in Fig. 5 to stretch the free end of the wire around thepost, the hook 33 is engaged with the line wire 11 and the nut 34 isthreaded onto the rod to draw the line wire from its tangential positionto a sub stantially radial position as shown. The ends of the clampingjaws are held apart a suflicient distance by the gripped end of the wireso that when the tool is swung around the post during the stretchingoperation the jaw ends will straddle the taut line wire as shown in Fig.5. This permits the free end of the wire to be brought into close proX-imity with the taut line wire and properly positioned to be tightlywrapped around the line wire without leaving any slack.

It is believed that our invention will be understood from the foregoingwithout further description and, while we have shown the preferredconstruction of a tool for positioning the line wires so that noslippage on the end post will occur after the wires have been secured,it will be obvious that varia tions and modifications of the particularconstruction shown and described may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the materialadvantages thereof.

We claim:

1. An end tool comprising a handle, means carried thereby to engage theend of a line wire and draw said end around a post, and means forbending the taut line wire toward the center line of the post to receivesaid end to be connected therewith.

2. An end tool comprising a handle, apair of curved jaws mounted thereonto engage a post, means carried by said handle for clos- 100 ing thejaws upon a wire, whereby said wire may be drawn around the post byoperating said handle, and means carried by said handle whereby thestretched wire may be pulled toward the jaws for connection with the 5end held by the jaws.

3. An end tool comprising a handle, and a pair of jaws pivotally mountedthereon and pivotally connected together intermediate their ends, saidhandle being provided 110 with a wed e adapted, upon movement of thehandle about the pivotal connection with the jaws, to close said jaws.

4. In an end tool, the combination of a handle, a clamp pivotallymounted thereon, 115 and a wedge carried by the handle for operatingsaid clamp upon relative movement between the handle and clamp.

5. In an end tool, the combination of a handle, a pair of curvedclamping jaws piv- 120 otally mounted on said handle, a wedge adapted toclose said jaws upon relative movement between the handle and jaws, ahook projecting from the handle, and means for moving said hook towardthe handle.

6. In an end tool, the combination of a handle, a pair of clamping jawspivotally connected together intermediate their ends and pivotallyconnected at one end to said handle, means for closing said jaws 130upon pivotal movement between the handle and jaws, means adapted to beengaged with a wire, and means for drawing said Wire toward the handle.

7. In an end tool, the combination of a handle, a pair of jaws curved toconform to the curvature of a post, means for closing the jaws wherebyto grasp a wire therebetween upon relative movement between the jaws andhandle, a hook projectin from said handle adjacent the jaws w en inclosed position, and means for drawing said hook toward the handle.

ARTHUR W. SPRAGUE. Witnesses:

IRA J. WILsoN, A. F. ALLEN,

JOHN A. COOKER. Witnesses:

CHARLES H. VOIGHT, G. E. HOLMES.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

